PHOTO ESSAY - September 1-15 - "Bits and Pieces"

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chrish
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PHOTO ESSAY - September 1-15 - "Bits and Pieces"

Post by chrish »

The topic for the beginning of Spetmeber will be "Bits and Pieces" where we post a photo that idenfies or indicates the species/taxon identity while showing less than 10% of the animal's body. Note that it just has to be to a specific "taxon". It could be a family, genus, whatever.

A few rules to make it challenging:

1. The photo should be diagnostic to taxon. We should be able to look at it and say...."ooh, ooh, I know what that is!" without seeing more than 10% of the body.
2. Crops are OK, but it would be even better if you took that shot this way on purpose.
3. One photo per person per day.
4. The longest dimension should be lass than 1024 pixels.
5. Don't just post your photos, feel free to comment on the photos of others.


Please come up with a title and a short explanation for your shots, if appropriate. Remember, we are trying to learn from each other.

Have fun, be creative!

Chris
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Re: PHOTO ESSAY - September 1-15 - "Bits and Pieces"

Post by chrish »

Suboculars - Nerodia cyclopion

This one was kind of easy, almost cheating. This is Nerodia cyclopion as identified by its subocular scales.

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Re: PHOTO ESSAY - September 1-15 - "Bits and Pieces"

Post by chrish »

Squint.

Here's a different look at the old standard American Alligator photo -

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Chris
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Re: PHOTO ESSAY - September 1-15 - "Bits and Pieces"

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Re: PHOTO ESSAY - September 1-15 - "Bits and Pieces"

Post by Antonsrkn »

Really similar to Chris' shot earlier, except instead of a american alligator here is a morelets croc.
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Re: PHOTO ESSAY - September 1-15 - "Bits and Pieces"

Post by txherper »

MHollanders' pic is a T-rat.
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Re: PHOTO ESSAY - September 1-15 - "Bits and Pieces"

Post by roosters977 »

Old friend.
I have seen this guy twice in the last 3 weeks in the same spot.

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Re: PHOTO ESSAY - September 1-15 - "Bits and Pieces"

Post by Stohlgren »

"....wait....I see red touching black..."

I didn't have anything to fit this topic, but today I found my first eastern coral so I took some close-ups. To be fair, this could be confused with other corals, but if you at least know the location (Georgia), you could ID it to taxon from this photo.

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Re: PHOTO ESSAY - September 1-15 - "Bits and Pieces"

Post by Tim Borski »

A few weeks ago I was poking around one night down here in south Florida and at the base of an isolated pile of limestone rock/rubble, just above the water line, I saw color.
Even though less than 10% of the snake was showing, ID was simple Simon.


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chrish, this bi-weekly PHOTO ESSAY is a great idea. :beer:

Tim
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Re: PHOTO ESSAY - September 1-15 - "Bits and Pieces"

Post by MHollanders »

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v
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Re: PHOTO ESSAY - September 1-15 - "Bits and Pieces"

Post by Soopaman »

L. calligaster, Matthijs?
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Re: PHOTO ESSAY - September 1-15 - "Bits and Pieces"

Post by bgorum »

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Gorum_120401_0070 by bgorum, on Flickr

I cant believe somebody hasn’t done this one yet. The black and white banded tails are not only diagnostic for Crotalus atrox as a species, but the number of bands is pretty reliable for determining sex, and the specific number, size, shape, etc. of the bands work dam well for identifying individuals. This is a pair of atrox mating, (or at least going through the motions), at a den I frequently check on and I know I had never seen either individual before, nor have I seen either since.
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Re: PHOTO ESSAY - September 1-15 - "Bits and Pieces"

Post by Owen »

Fringe Benefits

Phrynosoma blainvillii - 2 rows of fringe say I'm a California Species of Special Concern.

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Re: PHOTO ESSAY - September 1-15 - "Bits and Pieces"

Post by MHollanders »

Kyle, yes, from the Houston city limits.
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Re: PHOTO ESSAY - September 1-15 - "Bits and Pieces"

Post by Stohlgren »

Like I said, I don't really have anything for this topic, so here is another shot of the same snake I posted before. But this time it is not only color/pattern that identify the critter, but also a characteristic defensive display.

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Re: PHOTO ESSAY - September 1-15 - "Bits and Pieces"

Post by AsydaBass »

Owen, that's a great shot of the Phrynosoma.

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Re: PHOTO ESSAY - September 1-15 - "Bits and Pieces"

Post by AsydaBass »

Some serious scalation!

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Any takers on this one?

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Re: PHOTO ESSAY - September 1-15 - "Bits and Pieces"

Post by AndyO'Connor »

My first thought, ^Timber rattlesnake^, unless it's not from the u.s. and then I'd say fer-de-lance or something similar.
"Ringless Royalty"

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Aside from adult size, range, and the color on the belly, not having a ring on a ringneck usually means it's a regal ringneck, although some can have a ring, and some other ssp can be missing one.
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Re: PHOTO ESSAY - September 1-15 - "Bits and Pieces"

Post by Tim Borski »

Where I live, that old saying "red touch black..." could conceivably get you in trouble.
Even without the tip of the tail for diagnostics, you probably know what you're looking at.


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Re: PHOTO ESSAY - September 1-15 - "Bits and Pieces"

Post by Stohlgren »

Wow, Tim. That is cool. I would love to see a full body shot of that guy.
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Re: PHOTO ESSAY - September 1-15 - "Bits and Pieces"

Post by Stohlgren »

Fishin'

Taking the time to look through my photos, I actually think I have a few more that can fit this topic.

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Re: PHOTO ESSAY - September 1-15 - "Bits and Pieces"

Post by Tim Borski »

Stohlgren wrote:Wow, Tim. That is cool. I would love to see a full body shot of that guy.
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Re: PHOTO ESSAY - September 1-15 - "Bits and Pieces"

Post by AsydaBass »

Stohlgren- that's a great photo!

The last one that I posted was tricky. As was mentioned (timber, Bothrops) it very much resembles a viper, however, it is a colubrid- Nothopsis rugosus. It's a small denizen of the forest leaf litter community. The head scalation is also quite viper-like.

Here's today's:

A fired-up Norops bipocatus

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Re: PHOTO ESSAY - September 1-15 - "Bits and Pieces"

Post by chrish »

Sticky

This one is at least diagnostic to family.

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Re: PHOTO ESSAY - September 1-15 - "Bits and Pieces"

Post by chrish »

Stohlgren wrote:Like I said, I don't really have anything for this topic
Actually, that's pretty cool. The shot doesn't give it away directly, but is still pretty diagnostic. Anyone familiar with Eastern/Texas Corals will know that shot.

Now we need a coiled Diadophis tail.
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Re: PHOTO ESSAY - September 1-15 - "Bits and Pieces"

Post by MHollanders »

Your wish is my command.

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Re: PHOTO ESSAY - September 1-15 - "Bits and Pieces"

Post by Tim Borski »

Here's another coiled tail.


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Re: PHOTO ESSAY - September 1-15 - "Bits and Pieces"

Post by MHollanders »

Try this one.

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Re: PHOTO ESSAY - September 1-15 - "Bits and Pieces"

Post by Soopaman »

Western Coachwhip.


I wish I had something to add to this thread, but I do enjoy guessing some of the photos.
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Re: PHOTO ESSAY - September 1-15 - "Bits and Pieces"

Post by The Jake-Man »

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Ignore the yellow paint, it's just a mark my grandfather uses to distinguish the snakes he enters in hunts.
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Re: PHOTO ESSAY - September 1-15 - "Bits and Pieces"

Post by Soopaman »

Cropped a photo I took yesterday with the new camera and lens:

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Re: PHOTO ESSAY - September 1-15 - "Bits and Pieces"

Post by Stohlgren »

Canthus rostralis

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Re: PHOTO ESSAY - September 1-15 - "Bits and Pieces"

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Re: PHOTO ESSAY - September 1-15 - "Bits and Pieces"

Post by ThatFrogGuy »

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@ Antonsrkn Heterodon?
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Re: PHOTO ESSAY - September 1-15 - "Bits and Pieces"

Post by mikemike »

This one shouldn't be too hard...


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Untitled by michaelrayspencer, on Flickr
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Re: PHOTO ESSAY - September 1-15 - "Bits and Pieces"

Post by chrish »

OK, since skin and scales seems to be the theme du jour, how about:

Polygons

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Re: PHOTO ESSAY - September 1-15 - "Bits and Pieces"

Post by AsydaBass »

It seems like a similar photo to this gets submitted to every photo essay that we do, so I thought I'd get mine in too.

Turnip-tailed gecko (Thecadactylus rapicauda)

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Re: PHOTO ESSAY - September 1-15 - "Bits and Pieces"

Post by Antonsrkn »

@ Antonsrkn Heterodon?
Yep, Heterodon platirhinos
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Re: PHOTO ESSAY - September 1-15 - "Bits and Pieces"

Post by krismunk »

My avatar:

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Re: PHOTO ESSAY - September 1-15 - "Bits and Pieces"

Post by MHollanders »

Chris, I was thinking the same thing.

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Re: PHOTO ESSAY - September 1-15 - "Bits and Pieces"

Post by chrish »

One thing I really expected and wanted to see was a spadefoot spade. I don't have any photos of them for some reason.

Here's one you can easily get to family or even genus, if not species.

Turret

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Re: PHOTO ESSAY - September 1-15 - "Bits and Pieces"

Post by AndyO'Connor »

"Not a Brown Eye"

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A diagnostic sometimes mentioned with identifying a southern compared to a northern alligator lizard is the color of the iris. Northerns have brown eyes and southerns have yellow/gold eyes. It's not perfect, and usually isn't necessary, but it's cool.
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Re: PHOTO ESSAY - September 1-15 - "Bits and Pieces"

Post by Stohlgren »

No spadefoot spade, but I find their eyes to be mesmerizing.

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Re: PHOTO ESSAY - September 1-15 - "Bits and Pieces"

Post by Owen »

AndyO'Connor wrote:"Not a Brown Eye"

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A diagnostic sometimes mentioned with identifying a southern compared to a northern alligator lizard is the color of the iris. Northerns have brown eyes and southerns have yellow/gold eyes. It's not perfect, and usually isn't necessary, but it's cool.
Hi Andy... got both: Northern (San Francisco) top / Southern (California) bottom.

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Re: PHOTO ESSAY - September 1-15 - "Bits and Pieces"

Post by Aaron Mills »

A lot of really great shots in here! Here's one I took earlier this year just because I had never seen anyone else do it before.


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Re: PHOTO ESSAY - September 1-15 - "Bits and Pieces"

Post by AndyO'Connor »

Nice shot Aaron.

I call this one "How Many Labials is TOO Much?" (that's labiaLs for those of you that think like me)

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